STAFF WRITERS
SOCCER
GIPPSLAND FC
TWO of Gippsland FC’s four junior sides were in action at the weekend.
The Under-16 and Under-18 teams had the bye.
The Under-13s were the only team at home and welcomed Brighton to Latrobe City Stadium.
The two sides met in Round 1 in an entertaining 7-5 victory to Gippsland.
Brighton started on the front foot and continually attacked in the first 10 minutes. The pressure took its toll and eventually they took the lead.
After a slow start Gippsland gradually started to get into the game, however they were far from their best and went into half-time 1-0 down.
Jett Koppen almost equalised and Henry Knight continually tried to get an equaliser however it wasn’t to be.
Brighton finished off two chances late in the second half to run out 3-0 winners.
Henry Knight and Ruairi Couper played well for Gippsland however consistency as a team from one week to the next is the challenge for the group at the moment.
The Under-15s flew the flag at Dandenong City.
Despite some outstanding efforts, Dandenong would prove too strong.
This was the team’s third away game in a row and a similar pattern has developed.
Despite fighting hard and creating some early chances to score it was Dandenong City who would take their chances early and would go into the half time break up by one goal.
Set plays are Gippsland’s challenge and five minutes into the second half Dandenong was able to double its lead, with the final nail in the coffin for Gippsland coming only a few minutes later.
Try as they might the Gippsland boys were not able to penetrate a now confident Dandenong defence in the closing stages of the match and the game finished 3-0 in the home side’s favour.
For Gippsland, Dylan Rosato persevered while Jesse Dugard ran himself into the ground trying to create forward movement.
Jedd Foster worked overtime in the Gippsland goals and Spencer Boughton again gave his all.
